Plex Android Playback doesnt work aber disabling "Disable video stream transcoding"

General Discussions
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1

When i disable the option “Disable video stream transcoding” in the Transcoder Settings of the Server, i can only play some files, not all.
This is the error message:

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When i enable the option i disabled it works all normal (it buffers because my server cant handle transcoding but it works, it plays after some time).

Here i enabled “Video stream transcoding” even though its h.264 it works now:

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Why does my h.264 file only play when the plex server TRANSCODES it?!?!?!??
You cant tell me that my phone does not have support for h.264 codec..
EVERYTHING in my library works when using vlc, my phone has support for EVERYTHING. I have disabled transcoding because my server cant handle it, so that the mobile app can handle it (other apps can, plex for android app cant)

Same for all my other friends.

2

Not all H.264 is created equal.
VLC will “transcode” internally every time. Comparing against VLC is not valid.

  1. Please verify DEBUG logging is enabled, VERBOSE is off.
  2. Start playback again from the phone.
  3. After it fails
  4. Settings- Server - Troubleshooting - Download Logs
  5. Attach the ZIP file.
3

sure.
Plex Media Server Logs_2020-04-14_00-11-22.zip (6.7 MB)

4

It would actually be better if you reproduce and then provide the log from the Android app. The app decides if it needs a transcode or not.

5

Manufacturer: Xiaomi
Device: wayne
Model: MI 6X
Product: havoc_wayne
Version: 10
plex-log-lollilol01.zip (281.7 KB)
i dont know what happened, but just rename the “.txt” to “.zip” because it seems like this uploader here just wants it as txt

6

I see the problem. You are using a custom URL. Check out An error occurred while attempting to play this video. Please try restarting both the Plex Media Server and this app for a solution.

7

i added my custom url to the “custom certificate domain” field but it still doesnt work.
i also restarted the server.

8

ok, new logs please

9

sure
com.plexapp.android 2020-04-15 23-21.log (351.6 KB)

10

Ok. That error is gone. Now it shows that the video you are playing has a higher bitrate than the quality setting you’ve set in the app so a transcode is needed. Since you’ve disabled that on the server, it doesn’t work. Plex isn’t giving a good error when this happens, but it is expected that the video will not play if a transcode is needed and you’ve disabled that on the server.

11

I now reset the app completely (deleted the app data) and had to login again then. I then set everything up (including setting the default remote stream quality to max. now)
com.plexapp.android 2020-04-16 01-05.log (123.7 KB)
It looks like its still using plex.direct:32400 when i want it to use shibe.life:443 (my own domain)

ah and btw: on which line did it say it has to transcode?
thanks for helping btw!

12

Now you are trying to play VC1 video which your device does not support.

04-16 01:05:27.676 i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Analyzing media: 1920x1080 24580kbps (Container: mkv, Video: vc1, Audio: dca)
04-16 01:05:27.679 i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Unable to direct play; Unable to Direct Play as VC1 is not supported on this device.
04-16 01:05:27.680 i: [MediaSessionHelper] Releasing media session with tag: video
04-16 01:05:27.681 i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Unable to play; server unable to transcode video

This is expected to fail if you have the transcoder off still.

13

What does that mean? Can i install some like codec-packs or something? I mean it works in vlc… Why doesnt it work in the plex player? I mean cant it just transcode on the device, like vlc does?

14

VLC likely has it’s own video processing engine, that may or may not be… battery/cpu efficient.
There aren’t usually codec packs for… small, lower power mobile devices, often limited to what is built into the hardware. You get new codec support by getting new hardware.

VC1 is NOT typically a stream friendly codec.

Find something that has video: h/x264, and has audio: 2channel aac/ac3.

Plex Android client I’ve heard has a ‘new player’ similar to the iOS ‘enhanced player’ that might can hash it… YMMV.

15

Plex can decode some codecs lcoally. However, VC1 is a horrible codec. It can only be decoded using a single thread of the cpu. Depending on the device, this might work, but Plex runs on lots of devices and not all of them have a strong enough cpu to handle this so it’s been disabled. You should avoid using VC1 at all cost if you can.

16

Okay thanks for the information. Whats that about the new player for the android app? Is it already live and if not, how can i get it? Is there some sort of beta?

17

Oh and btw, i made now everything accessible over my domain, but it still does not work in the android app. (Web + Desktop + iOS Apps are fine)
com.plexapp.android 2020-04-16 23-31.log (logs from my phone) (206.4 KB)
com.plexapp.android 2020-04-16 23-02.log (from a friend) (91.5 KB)

18

Not sure exactly what you mean, but you log shows the app couldn’t reach your server.

19

I mean the desktop and ios apps can access everything via the domain but the android app doesnt. Why?

20

I don’t know. Have them try updating the app to the latest and see if that makes a difference.